Fracture toughness testing
Fracture toughness
Fracture toughness testing is commonly applied in construction applications to investigate the resistance of the material against the initiation and propagation of an existing flaw/crack. Dependent on the environment in which the structure is operated, preliminary fatigue testing, corrosion testing or hydrogen charging might be needed. Our services include quasi-static and impact toughness tests.
Quasi-static toughness tests allow to determine critical fracture toughness properties (CTOD, J-integral and K) and to construct a tearing resistance curve. Our testing facilities allow different sample geometries and loading conditions leading to multiple test configurations: Single-Edge Notched Tension (SENT), Single-Edge Notched Tension (SENB), Compact Tension (CT)…
- In-house machined samples and test execution in accordance with standard BS 8571 (SENT)
- Quasi-static load capacity up to 8000 kN (tensile)
- Dedicated instrumentation to measure applied loads and deformations by using calibrated load cells, LVDT’s, extensometers, clip gauges (CTOD, CMOD), strain gauges, Digital Image Correlation (DIC)…
- Crack growth measurement by unloading compliance (UC), potential drop (DCPD) and/or replica.
Charpy pendulum impact testing are performed on a Zwick 15J/50J impact hammer or TINIUS OLSEN 400 Joules impact hammer. A Charpy impact test is a destructive test to measure a material’s resistance to impact by measuring the absorbed energy during impact, also known as toughness. The test is specifically useful to determine the failure mode (brittle or ductile) at different temperatures, notch locations and orientations.
- In-house machined samples in accordance with standard ASTM A370
- Impact energy up to 400 J
- Impact testing at different temperatures (-196°C to 200°C) to capture ductile-to-brittle behaviour
- Detailed notch positioning (e.g. weld metal center, heat affected zone…)
